


The Most Dangerous Alien You'll Ever Meet

by secooper87



Series: The Child of Balime [6]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Torchwood
Genre: Angst and Humor, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-27
Updated: 2013-04-30
Packaged: 2017-12-09 14:55:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/775490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secooper87/pseuds/secooper87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwen meets Seo, for the first time, on her 99th birthday. But the annual Buffy birthday calamity might well be genetic, as Gwen finds herself alone, in the Hub, with the most dangerous alien she'll ever meet. And is terrified.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't usually do this, but... you're probably going to need to know the synopsis of the first episode of Torchwood to understand this story.
> 
> So here it is!
> 
> _In Torchwood, Gwen Cooper, a police officer with the Cardiff Police, witnesses Jack's Torchwood team using the resurrection glove to resurrect a murder victim. Gwen, curious, follows them and winds up at the Hub. Jack retcons her, but she winds up being led back to the outside of the Hub by Suzie Costello._
> 
> _Turns out, Suzie has been killing people all across Cardiff with the "life knife", so she practice resurrecting people using the gauntlet._
> 
> _Suzie thinks Gwen's going to remember, and turn Suzie in for murder. So she prepares to shoot Gwen and flee the country. Jack intervenes, but Suzie shoots him, first. When Jack pops back to life, Suzie realizes it's over. Jack asks her to give him the gun._
> 
> _Instead, Suzie shoots herself in the head._
> 
> _Gwen, meantime, becomes recruited to be the latest member of Torchwood Cardiff._
> 
> So that's a basic plot summary. And, with that, we've finally caught up to the start of the Torchwood series!
> 
> Enjoy chapter one of the newest story!

"We need to bring her in," said Jack. "If only to check her over. After what happened with Suzie."

Gwen stepped up to the computer area, where the rest of the team was working. "Bring… who in?" she asked.

"Seo," said Jack, as he took off to make the call.

Gwen turned to Owen, shooting him a look that demanded an explanation. Owen just sat back in his chair, hands behind his head.

"Ready to see the most dangerous alien you'll ever meet?" he asked her.

* * *

Torchwood then launched itself into 'preparation mode'.

"Seo? No, she's very sweet," Tosh said, as she checked every door in the Hub. Yanking them all open, each in turn. "Friendly. Nice. Wouldn't harm a fly. At least, not intentionally."

"Owen said she was dangerous," said Gwen.

"Oh, she is that," Tosh admitted. She reached one that didn't open, and sighed, dug out a key, and unlocked it. "Very dangerous. But also very sweet." She turned, and went to check the next door.

Gwen peeked inside the room that Tosh had just unlocked. "But… that's the armory!" Gwen said, chasing after Tosh. "If she's dangerous, should we really be unlocking…?"

"A locked door is like a challenge to her," said Tosh, continuing to check doors. "If you keep a door locked, it's guaranteed she'll go in there."

Gwen nodded, slowly. Taking this all in.

* * *

"Chocolates," Ianto explained, setting out a plate, in the center of the Hub. "Her favorite kind. Good for distraction purposes." He shrugged. "Sometimes."

"Distraction?" asked Gwen. "From… what?"

"Everything, really," Ianto admitted, setting out a pile of napkins, nearby. "She always tries to mess about with things she doesn't quite understand. Our job is to keep her away from the more dangerous things. Or attempt to."

Gwen looked around, at everyone hustling and trying to get the hub ready for their arrivals. Her mind racing to process all this.

"Look, if this alien really is that dangerous," said Gwen, "then… why isn't she locked up, here? With us? Permanently?"

"Buffy looks after her," said Ianto. "Keeps her under control — for the most part. Besides," with a shrug, "she'd never intentionally harm anyone."

Gwen leaned in, closer. "But… if she wouldn't harm anyone," she whispered, "why all the preparation work? The distractions? Why is Jack hiding all the most dangerous weaponry we have where she can't find it?"

"I said she'd never _intentionally_ harm anyone," Ianto replied.

* * *

"Seo? No, she'll be fine," said Jack, as he continued to stash alien guns away into hiding spots. "And as for Buffy — well, she's a bit of a living legend, in and of herself. Trust me. You'll like them."

Gwen nodded, slowly. "So… that's why this 'Seo' isn't locked up in Torchwood? Because she's in Buffy's custody?"

"Buffy's not her jailer; Buffy's her mom," Jack replied. He turned to Gwen. "And the reason Seo isn't locked up here is that she doesn't need to be."

"I thought she was alien," said Gwen.

"Part alien," Jack qualified. "And just because she's part alien, that doesn't make her part evil." He laughed. "In fact, she's got to be one of the most morally stubborn people out there. Headstrong, determined, and fiercely loyal to her friends." He grinned at Gwen, then got back to work, hiding the weapons around the Torchwood Hub. "Told you. You'll like her."

"If she's not evil," said Gwen, "then why are you hiding all the weapons?"

"I said she wasn't evil," said Jack, with a little shrug. "Never said she wasn't a troublemaker."

* * *

"Still haven't worked it out, yet, then?" asked Owen, as Gwen walked into the medical lab. He didn't look up at her, as he continued cleaning and sterilizing his medical instruments from the alien autopsy he'd done, that morning. "Why she's dangerous?"

Gwen sat down on the steps. "Everyone here says she wouldn't hurt anyone. Intentionally."

"Well, except for monsters who've murdered innocent people in cold blood," said Owen, studying a scalpel beneath the light. "She hurts them. But even then… long as they don't touch Buffy or the rest of us… she usually goes for capturing rather than killing. Trapping rather than injuring." He set down the scalpel. "God help you if you try to hurt her friends, though."

Gwen shook her head. "But that's good, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah," said Owen. "It's fine. Saved our lives more than once." He grabbed up another surgical instrument, sterilizing it. "But she is still the most dangerous alien you'll ever meet at Torchwood."

"Why?" asked Gwen.

Owen nodded, through the windows, out at the round, circular steel door leading into the Hub. "You see that door, there? Ever tried to move it, when it's not on automatic?"

"It's impenetrable," said Gwen. "You can't move it, if there's no power. That's what Jack told me."

Owen met Gwen's eyes. "Seo can rip that thing right off its hinges," he said. "Bend it in half. Toss it aside. No sweat."

Gwen stared at him. A little dumbstruck.

"Oh, yeah," said Owen, turning back to his work. "Super strong. Doesn't show up on any scans, sensors, or cameras, either. Can get past any automated system, without triggering a single alarm. Something about… existing on a different dimensional frequency, or rubbish like that." He shrugged. "I'm betting half of what Jack tells us about her is all rot, anyways."

Gwen nodded.

"And she's clever," Owen added. He laughed. "Oh, is she ever clever. Manipulative, devious, and highly perceptive. She lies, tricks, steals, and coordinates everything around her, so she can get what she wants. And, when she really knows what she's doing, and has factored in all the variables, there's very little we can do to stop her."

"But if she's really on our side," said Gwen, "why would we _want_ to stop her?"

Owen looked up at Gwen. Putting down his now cleaned tools. "You really don't get it, do you?"

Gwen shook her head.

"Seo's a kid," said Owen. "A teenager. _That's_ what makes her dangerous."

Oh.

Oh. Suddenly, things began to become a lot clearer. What Jack had said — about her being a troublemaker. What Ianto had said, about her needing distractions. What Tosh had said, about her not harming anyone _intentionally_.

And why she might want things she shouldn't have.

"See, now, usually, when kids make mistakes," Owen continued, "you think, no big deal. They're young, not very strong, not really influential or powerful enough to cause real problems for anyone except themselves. But Seo… when _she_ messes up… lots of people die and the world almost ends."

Gwen grimaced.

"She's a teenager," said Owen. "An insane, hormone-crazed, angst-ridden, immature teenager. Utterly insecure. Massive mood swings. She might be an alien — and a powerful one at that — but at the moment, she's just as mad and unpredictable as any bloody teenager out there. And _that_ is what makes her the most dangerous alien you'll ever meet at Torchwood."


	2. Chapter 2

Buffy and Seo were, very clearly, a mother-daughter pair. Looked staggeringly similar, both with the exact same shaped face, the same general stance, the same noses and the same blond hair. The child, however — Seo — had these large, expressive brown eyes. Eyes that seemed to stare at you as if seeing something… no human really could. Seeing past your surface, and staring deep into your soul.

Seo caught sight of Gwen, a small smile creeping up her face. Analyzing her, carefully.

"—newest Torchwood member," Jack was saying, gesturing at Gwen. "Gwen Cooper." He grinned at Gwen. "Gwen. Meet Buffy, and her daughter, Seo."

Buffy was looking very impatient. Glancing around, uneasily, clearly trying to tug Jack away from the rest of the group, quickly as possible.

Hm.

Looked like there was something going on between those two, then.

"Um… hello," Gwen offered. She planted her best smile on her face. "Nice to meet you."

Seo just kept studying Gwen with those deep brown eyes. Then, her face lit up into a dazzling smile. And she rushed over, all excitement and energy, her hair bouncing with every step. "I know you!" she cried. "I've seen you with the Cardiff police! You're the one always hanging about with that tall, skinny blond policeman."

Gwen tensed. She… knew her? Gwen's eyes flicked over to Owen, who had a 'told you so' look on his face.

He'd said she was perceptive.

Seo stopped, abruptly, a few steps away from Gwen. Her face folding into a frown. "Oh. You're… afraid of me."

"No," said Gwen, as she noticed Buffy tugging Jack into his office, and slamming the door behind them. Yep, definitely something going on, there. She fixed her eyes back on Seo, and tried to give a friendlier grin. "Not afraid. See?"

Seo thought this through. Then, abruptly, leapt forward, shouting, "Boo!"

Gwen squeaked, stumbling back.

"You _are_ afraid of me," Seo noted, as she stopped, again, still some ways away from Gwen. "Very afraid." She frowned, looking almost completely preoccupied with Gwen's fear, as if it were the most important thing in the world to her. Then her eyes lit up, and she turned on her heels, ran over to the plate of chocolates Ianto had gathered, beforehand, and sprinted back to Gwen. Offering her the plate. "Here. Have some chocolate. Chocolate makes everything better."

Gwen glanced at the others, who were all laughing under their breaths. Then back at the girl, who was still eagerly waiting for Gwen to take a chocolate.

Manipulative, Owen had said.

"Please?" Seo asked, holding the plate a little closer towards Gwen. "Because it's my birthday?"

"It's your birthday?" Tosh cut in, a little curious.

"Tomorrow," Seo said. She looked supremely proud of herself. "Born October 1st, 2000." She glanced over at Gwen, then added, in a whisper, "That makes me ninety-nine, tomorrow. It's a little complicated."

Gwen wasn't really sure what to say to this. She was pretty sure, if Seo was born in 2000, that made her 7. Not 99. Besides which, she looked more like she was in late adolescence, which was a far departure from either 99, or 7.

"I… thought… Owen said you were a teenager," Gwen stammered.

A slight hesitation crossed Seo's face. A slightly guarded look entered her eyes. And when she spoke again, the voice was a little more cautious than before.

"I'm… just… Buffy's kid," Seo said. She lowered the plate, a little. "You can call me that. 'Kid'. Like, 'good try, kid!' Or, 'better luck next time, kid!' Or, 'we all mess up sometimes, kid.'"

"Or, 'don't blow up the Hub, again, if you know what's good for you, kid'," Owen volunteered.

Seo turned on him. "That only happened once! And I said I was sorry."

"Have to hand it to her, though," Ianto added. "That _was_ a Bastille Day we'll never forget. She was right about that part."

The door to Jack's office banged open. "Yan," Jack said. "Up here. Owen." Giving Owen a pointed look. "Medical lab, now."

Owen sighed. "Yeah," he said. "Tell you what. How about I bring you the blank sheet of paper that will comprise the test results our Torchwood tech will give us on Seo, now, rather than later, and save you the trip downstairs?"

"Just make sure there's nothing wrong with her," said Jack, as he closed the door behind Ianto.

Owen sighed. Grabbed Seo up by the shoulders, leading her into the medical lab. "Come on," he said. "Time for the most futile checkup in the history of the medical profession."

* * *

"I've been meaning to talk to you, in person, actually," said Jack, the moment Buffy had dragged him into his office and shut the door. "I'm trying to understand exactly what happened with Suzie's mental breakdown. And I thought you could—"

"Yeah, that's great, whatever," Buffy cut in, spinning around. "Jack, we've got a serious problem. It's Seo's birthday."

Jack stopped, stared. "She… has a birthday?"

"Well, I mean, I guess," said Buffy, throwing up her hands. "I dunno! I only found out about it thirty minutes ago, while driving over here. October 1st. Tomorrow. Jack, she thinks this Torchwood thing is her birthday party! She's expecting cake and stuff."

"Okay, okay, calm down," Jack urged her. He leaned back against his desk. "Deep breaths. We'll sort out this birthday stuff. Promise. Just tell me about Suzie, first." His eyes flicked out of his office window. "How'd Seo take the news that Suzie killed herself?"

"She seemed pretty sad," said Buffy. "At first." She gave a short, bitter laugh. "Then she disabled about three different hidden alarm systems she'd put together, across our apartment, which all happened to be tuned specifically to Suzie's DNA."

Jack paused. Processing this. "I… see."

"And then," Buffy continued, "she went over to Alison's house, and disabled a few alarms, there, and…" She shook her head. "You know, I'd say Seo was being all with the paranoia. Except that you told me Suzie actually _was_ killing people."

Jack nodded.

"Anyways, I figured there had to be a reason Seo was super worried that Suzie was going to march all the way to London to kill her," Buffy continued. "I asked Seo about it. But she just changed the subject."

"Expected that."

"So then I asked Alison," said Buffy. She crossed her arms. "And… wouldn't you know? Turns out, all those times that Seo dragged Alison along with her to Cardiff and flaunted Torchwood security and secrecy rules — those were all because she was deathly afraid of facing down Suzie alone."

Jack remembered. Alison had claimed that Suzie thought Seo deserved to be shot for being an alien. He and the others had dismissed it all, at the time, as some Seo-speak that Alison had accidentally taken seriously.

But... turns out… the paranoia was probably justified.

"Look, Jack, about this birthday thing, though," said Buffy. "I mean, seriously. Seo's been through super-trauma, this year. A lot more than we thought, with this Suzie thing. We have to do something to celebrate her birthday. I mean… she almost didn't live to 99!"

"I told you," said Jack. "Later, I'll make sure—"

"No, not later! Now!" Buffy insisted. "You should have seen the look on her face, when she found out I didn't know! She was totally devastated, Jack. She kind of curled up into herself and muttered that it was okay, she probably didn't deserve a birthday, anyways. And then she got all sulky about her Dad, again, and…" Buffy gritted her teeth. "We've got to do something! Like, something special!"

"You're feeling _really_ guilty about this," Jack realized.

"I didn't know her birthday!" Buffy said. "I mean, what kind of a mom doesn't know her own daughter's birthday?!"

"You never technically gave birth to her," Jack pointed out. "You couldn't have known."

"I never even thought to ask!" Buffy cried.

Jack gave a small laugh. Put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. We'll make this happen, okay? She wants a birthday party, I'll give her a birthday party."

"With a special kind of cake," Buffy muttered. "She was really clear about that."

"With a special kind of cake, if she wants," Jack agreed. He winked at her. "Trust me. I've got a secret weapon." Then rushed past her, banged open the door to his office. "Yan! Up here."


	3. Chapter 3

"Wait! Ianto!" called Buffy, racing after Ianto, shoving on her coat as she left the Hub. "I'm coming with you." She slowed down, as she matched pace with him. "Just to… I dunno. Make sure the cake-baker isn't secretly a demon, or something."

"Just to check up on me, you mean," Ianto said, as he and Buffy left the Hub. He took out an umbrella, and held it over the two of them, to keep them out of the rain, as they made their way to his car.

"Maybe more like… because I feel guilty I didn't know it was her birthday," said Buffy, getting into the passenger seat. "I mean, I should be doing something, right? To show her I love her? And… you know, just because…"

Ianto got into the driver's side, shaking out the umbrella, before tucking it into the back seat.

"I dunno," said Buffy. "Maybe I need to learn from you. With the always-being-preparedness."

Ianto gave a small chuckle. Then drove off into the Cardiff rain.

* * *

"Oh," said Tosh. She turned to Gwen. "Wait here."

Then slid out of her seat, and raced towards the med lab. Threw open the door, to find Owen in the middle of an explanation, to Jack, about how he had absolutely no idea of the long term effects of any possible neurological or psychic trauma done to Seo, since no scanners were giving him any readings.

They all glanced at her.

"Jack," said Tosh, her eyes darting around the room, a little nervously. "Spikes in rift activity. Big ones."

Jack sighed. "Owen, while I'm looking into this, check again with Seo and see if you can find any—"

"I bloody can't, and you know it," Owen snapped. He crossed his arms. "Look. You ask me, she seems fine. And unless she's going on any murder sprees that Buffy doesn't know about, I think I'll stick with that."

"Not good enough," Jack said. "She's put more energy through that thing than anyone else, here. Even Suzie. I want real results, Owen. Tangible results."

"Oh, well, then, excuse me," snapped Owen. "I was trying to avoid drilling a hole through her skull. But apparently, that's what you want."

Tosh bit back her anger and frustration, turning her attention to Seo. "Seo," she said. "Resurrection glove. Opinions."

Seo's eyes narrowed. Her mouth formed a thin line. "I told you," she said, voice dark and pointed. "You should get rid of that thing. Especially after what it did to Suzie."

"There, see?" said Tosh. "She's fine." She gestured at them to follow her. "Rift spikes. Now."

* * *

"Maybe it's because… I remember the first time my dad forgot my birthday," Buffy put in, as she pushed a shopping cart down the aisle, Ianto picking out streamers and balloons and birthday decorations as they went. "Every year, see, on my birthday, Dad took me to the ice show. I remember seeing 'Snoopy on Ice', and then Dad took me backstage, and I got really scared and threw up on Woodstock."

"I see," said Ianto, as they continued down the aisle.

"But it was fun, you know?" said Buffy. "Kind of… bonding time. And then, one day, I turned 18, and suddenly, Dad stopped taking me to ice shows. And it was, like, mega emotional devastation type thing. I was all with the sulking — and that was when Giles took away my superpowers and an evil, sadistic vampire almost murdered me."

Ianto looked askance at Buffy.

"And that's why I can't forget Seo's birthday!" Buffy concluded. "So that doesn't happen to her."

"The… emotional devastation?" Ianto checked. "Or the… other part of that story?"

Buffy bit her lower lip. Her hands clenching the grip of the shopping cart.

"The other part," Ianto concluded.

"Birthdays… don't exactly evoke the best memories for me," Buffy explained. She slumped. "Like, remember the Judge? First time I met him? My birthday."

"Ah," said Ianto.

"And now, it's Seo's birthday," said Buffy. "And Suzie shoots herself through the head. I mean, I know I've got an annual Buffy-Birthday-Calamity that I write into my calendar, every year, but… that doesn't mean Seo should, right?"

"No," Ianto agreed.

"But… what if my bad luck's rubbing off on her?" Buffy said. "What if, by forgetting her birthday, I'm starting some kind of jinx or something? What if she's going to have bad luck, forever, and I can't—?"

Buffy stopped, in mid-sentence, as Ianto handed her a giant stuffed shamrock, taken from the kid's section of the store.

"Solution," Ianto told her, nodding at it.

Buffy looked at the grinning plushy four-leaf clover. Then up at Ianto.

Then burst out laughing.

* * *

"Woah," said Jack, squinting at the computer display. "I can see why you called us in. That's just… weird."

The rift spike just kept flashing at them. Over and over again. A gigantic increase in rift activity. Then nothing. Then, again, the same spike.

"Anything on the CCTV footage?" asked Jack.

"First rift spike took the cameras down," Tosh admitted. She typed a little on the computer. "But I've been using this program to try to use the energy output readings to estimate the size of whatever came through, and… it's big, Jack." Tosh grimaced. "Really big."

"And right on the far side of Cardiff," said Owen.

Jack took this in. Then raced over to his military coat, draped over one of the chairs, nearby. "All right. Better go out and track this thing down, ourselves. Tosh, Owen? Come with me. Gwen?" He glanced over at Seo. "Look after her."

"Can't I come?" asked Seo.

"Rule is," said Jack, putting on his military coat, "you don't get involved in anything Torchwood related without your mom's direct approval. Buffy's in charge of you. Not Torchwood. And since she's off with Ianto, at the moment, that means you stay behind."

Seo raised an eyebrow. "You just made that rule up."

"Okay, fine," Jack replied, adjusting the coat. "New rule. If Jack says you don't come, you don't come. That better?"

"No."

"Tough luck," said Jack, as he, Tosh, and Owen all turned around, and raced out the circular door, through the corridor leading out of the Hub.

Seo made a face, after him. "Well, I think your rules are rubbish!" she shouted. "So… so… so there!"

"I'll keep that in mind!" Jack called back.

And then he and the others entered the far lift, and vanished from sight.

Leaving Gwen and Seo in the Hub, together.

Alone.

* * *

"…and when I was seventeen," Buffy continued, "my boyfriend lost his soul on my birthday, and started kidnapping and torturing all my friends."

Ianto said nothing. Just kept driving, onwards, through Cardiff traffic, towards the bakery.

"Oh, and on my 19th birthday, Giles got transformed into a Fyarl demon, and I nearly killed him by accident," said Buffy. She stared out the window. "And then there was my sister having a complete melt-down, and cutting herself with a butcher's knife. That was on my birthday. And this vengeance demon trapped us all in my house on my birthday, once. And the time I thought I killed my best-friend-love-of-my-life guy, and my entire world came crashing down around me — that was on my birthday, too, and—"

"Love of your life?" asked Ianto.

Buffy's cheeks went red. "I… um…" She fidgeted with the hem of her t-shirt. "Seo's father. I… thought I killed Seo's father."

Ianto absorbed this. But didn't answer.

"He's just… no one," Buffy put in, quickly. Because she knew that Ianto had been in Torchwood One, and knew that the Doctor had been Torchwood One's enemy. And didn't want to push her luck. "Okay, he's someone. But it's complicated."

"Someone who travels through time," Ianto qualified.

Buffy blinked.

"Seo's 99," said Ianto. "But she was born in 2000."

Damn.

"Yeah, actually, that's not because of time travel," said Buffy. "That's because Seo was brought up in a distant dimension, which looks and acts really different from ours, and when she was released, arrived kind of arbitrarily at this point in time."

Ianto didn't answer.

"You don't believe me, huh?" said Buffy.

Ianto was quiet, for a long time. The thud of windshield wipers the only sound in the car.

"So… you've had a lot of birthday problems, then?" Ianto asked, at last.


	4. Chapter 4

All right. Pull yourself together, Gwen.

Gwen swallowed, then planted a smile onto her face.

It was ridiculous to be terrified of the girl in front of her. Really, it was. The girl looked human, right? And she seemed nice, friendly, and cheerful. Concerned about those around her. Empathetic.

She didn't look like the sort of person Owen had described. The one who could manipulate everyone and everything around her, to work to her advantage. The one who could rip through metal and nearly end the world because of a teenage mood swing, and…

But that wasn't what scared Gwen.

Gwen had been a cop. She'd seen how people conducted themselves around the more insane, unstable, volatile and violent suspects they picked up. She'd seen how they tip-toed around, trying to give off an air of authority but always being cautious to make sure the suspect wasn't about to fly off the handle.

And that was precisely the way every single Torchwood agent acted, around Seo.

She and Seo had been playing cards, since the others left. Sitting on the floor of the grating, cross-legged. Seo kept glancing back at where Jack and the others had departed.

"You know, I hate it when he does that," Seo confessed, eventually.

"Leaving you behind?" Gwen asked.

"And making up regulations to do it," Seo agreed. She turned back to Gwen. "He's only going out there without me because he thinks he'll have to kill something, you know. I've worked that one out, already."

Gwen hesitated. There it was, again. The tip-toeing around Seo.

"Mom and Jack are always worried about killing things when I'm around," Seo explained. Her face bent into a pensive expression, as she studied the cards in her hands. "I can never tell if it's because they're worried that watching them kill monsters will turn me into a psychopath. Or if it's because they know I'll try to stop them."

Gwen opened her mouth to answer, but wasn't completely sure what to say.

"You're still afraid of me, aren't you?" Seo observed, studying her. "You're shaking."

"No!" Gwen insisted, but didn't meet Seo's eyes. Just stared down at the playing cards, fanned out in her hands.

"Is it because I'm not human?" Seo asked. "Suzie was always afraid of me because I'm not human. I think she hated me."

Gwen felt a thousand fears and doubts and second guesses well up inside of her, and before she could stop herself, she'd jumped to her feet.

"Yes!" she snapped. "All right? Yes. I'm afraid of you. And yes, it's because you're alien!"

Seo didn't answer. Just sat there, on the floor. Putting down her cards.

"Since I got here, I've seen what aliens can do," Gwen said. "I've seen aliens tear people apart, without a second thought. I've seen aliens that leapt into people's bodies and used them as puppets to destroy innocent young boys. I've seen aliens that tried to end the world and that murdered innocent people for no good reason. And, apparently, everyone at Torchwood agrees that you're a lot more dangerous than any of those."

Still, no answer from Seo.

"So, no, I don't know why you're running around free," Gwen continued. "I don't understand why the others seem to forgive your 'accidentally almost ending the world' and whatnot, just because you call yourself a 'kid'. But — know what? I don't think you're a bloody kid at all." Her eyes narrowed. "If you're old enough to almost destroy the world, you're old enough to take responsibility for it."

Seo bit her lower lip.

For a few long seconds, there was silence, in the Hub. Silence save for the humming of computers.

"I saved it, too," said Seo, very softly.

Gwen blinked. "You… sorry?"

"When you destroy something, you have to fix it," said Seo. "Dad taught me that. When I mess up, nearly destroy the world — I always fix it. Even if I need a little help, sometimes."

"I… I don't…" Gwen shook her head. Trying to make sense of everything she was hearing, everything she was seeing. It just… didn't mesh. Didn't mesh, at all, inside her mind.

Seo got to her feet, a determined expression on her face. Then advanced towards Gwen, a hardness in her countenance that put Gwen on full alert. She stopped, a short ways away from Gwen. And held out her hand.

"Your gun," Seo demanded.

Gwen's entire body went into shoot-out preparation mode. "No."

"If you're going to be afraid of me," said Seo, "I need your gun. Now."

Gwen pulled the gun out of her holster, and pointed it at Seo, instead. No way was Gwen giving this alien a loaded weapon. Not when there were only two of them in the Hub.

But before she even had a chance to take the safety off, Seo had leapt out at her, tackled her to the ground with an amount of force that Gwen hadn't expected from a short, thin-looking girl. They rolled across the ground, both wrestling for the gun, both clawing at one another to get their hands on it.

A loud siren suddenly exploded across the Hub. Both Gwen and Seo froze, and looked up at the flashing lights.

"What's—?" asked Gwen.

Seo took advantage to grab up the gun, then leapt to her feet and darted towards the computers. "It's… the alarm code, saying one of the cells has been breached!" She thrust the gun into her pocket, then began to type, furiously, at the computer. "I'll bring up the surveillance footage."

Gwen, feeling uneasy without her gun, tried to grab up one of the others Jack had hidden across the Hub. But… even though Gwen was sure Jack had hidden a gun, here… the gun was gone.

Gwen was on her own.

She made her way over to Seo, squinting at the display of the computer. The surveillance cameras, all lined up on the monitor. There was the weevil, in the cells, locked up as usual. But… that Xengoftrizoid that they'd brought in, earlier that day! It wasn't there at all. Gone. Vanished!

Escaped.

"Listen," said Gwen. "Give me back my gun. Wherever the Xengoftrizoid got to, I can protect you. Protect both of us."

Seo hesitated. Turning large, scared brown eyes on Gwen. Then, reluctantly, reached into her pocket. And handed Gwen back the gun.

A growl to their right, and Seo and Gwen froze, as they saw the Xengoftrizoid standing at the edge of the Hub. Its large black maw dripping with saliva, its eyes angry and yellow, its fangs bared. Seo's eyes went wide, and she grabbed Gwen by the arm, dragging her backwards.

Gwen just raised up the gun. Took careful aim. And fired.

Nothing happened.

She pulled the trigger, again, and this time, the entire gun fell apart in her hands. Pieces falling to the ground like droplets of rain.

The Xengoftrizoid sniffed at them. Then roared a feral roar.

"Run!" shouted Seo, spinning around and racing away from it.

Gwen didn't have to be told twice.

* * *

"Look, someone has to have seen these monsters," Jack argued, as they stood out in the middle of a verdant field, getting drenched by rain, just beside the A48. "If they're creating rift spikes as big as Tosh is picking up, they can't just disappear."

"Rift spikes still occurring," said Tosh, checking a little gizmo. She peered out through the rain, but could see no signs of any life forms coming through. "Jack's right. From what I'm getting, here, it should be a whole army of giant things coming through. Someone has to have seen that."

"Where's it coming from?" asked Jack.

Tosh squinted at the gizmo. Then raced forwards, to the spot it described. "Right… around…" She stopped. As she arrived. And looked down at the ground. "Oh."

Jack and Owen raced over.

Stopped.

"Well, there's your answer," said Owen, picking up the small, plastic-cased ball, and tossing it up and down in the air. "Rift spike simulator, anyone?"

Tosh put away her gizmo, trying to hide the blush that had risen to her cheeks.

Jack, in the meantime, was just looking out at the A48, beside them. A growing worry on his face. "This… is the road," he said, "that Buffy always uses to get to Torchwood, isn't it?"

Owen stopped tossing the ball up and down. Looked over at the motorway — which was in easy throwing range of where they were standing. Then back at Jack. "Oh, please tell me you're kidding."

Jack stepped away, activated his headset. "Yan," he said. "Quick question. This… special cake that Seo wanted for her birthday. That could only be found at one particular bakery. That bakery wouldn't happen to be located… as far from the Plass as possible, in Cardiff, right?"

"I knew she didn't protest enough at our leaving her behind," Tosh muttered.

Jack waited for the response, then nodded. "Yeah, that's basically what I thought." He sighed, listening a little, then nodded. "And since Gwen's not on the line, at the moment, I'm guessing that's also been done by design."

"Just like Seo to make up a birthday, to get us all out of the Hub," Owen muttered. "Ninety nine my foot."

"Heading back now," Jack confirmed, as he raced towards the Torchwood van. "Meet you there." Then tapped his earpiece, as he and the others jumped into the van.

* * *

"I can't believe it!" shouted Buffy. She hit her head against the glass display case of the bakery. "I should have picked up on this way, way back! I mean, not telling me about her birthday until right before we showed up in Cardiff? Special kind of cake? That is classic 'I'm up to something' Seo!"

"So… you're not paying for the cake?" the baker double-checked. "After I iced it for you. You're not taking it."

Buffy cursed beneath her breath, but handed over the money. If she counted up all the money she'd squandered patching over Seo's little schemes — not to mention the electronics and things she dissected at school for no apparent reason — she'd be a millionaire, by now.

Or something.

"We've got to go," said Buffy, tucking the cake beneath her arm, and jumping back into Ianto's car. "Whatever Seo's planning, if it's big enough that she wanted us all out of the hub, there's a fifty-fifty chance it'll actually work. And if it doesn't… there's no way Gwen's going to be able to deal with that on her own."


	5. Chapter 5

Gwen and Seo had gotten split up, at some point in the chase. Gwen had managed to distract the alien, so it chased after her, letting Seo go free, then raced down towards the freezers, heart beating in her mouth.

It snarled and growled at her, leaping into the freezer vaults, its eyes narrow slits and its jaw oozing saliva. Gwen could remember some of the hiding spots Jack had used to hide those alien guns of his, but every time she tried to get her hands on one, she found the weapon wasn't where she thought Jack had hidden it.

Then her mobile rang.

Gwen reached down, picked it up. "Jack, can't talk," she hissed. "I'm down here, in the freezers, and—"

"It's a set up," said Jack, over the phone. "It's not Seo's birthday. There are no aliens coming through the rift. Seo's been tricking us all, to get us out of the Hub."

Gwen felt her blood freeze. "Tricking us all?"

"If she doesn't want me and Buffy there," Jack said, "there's a reason. And I'm betting it's because… whatever she wants to do, there's less than a fifty percent chance it'll work."

And Gwen realized… when the alarm had first sounded, Seo had been the one to get to the computers. Far before Gwen did. Get to the computers… and type something. Which she shouldn't have needed to do, because the surveillance footage was already up, on the next screen over.

Seo had triggered the alarm, remotely. While she and Gwen had been struggling for the gun. Then used the distraction of the alarm to get over to the computers and release the alien from the cells, herself.

Damn.

Gwen heard a sharp clang, behind her, and spun around, just in time to see the freezer door clang shut.

Oh, no.

"Jack," said Gwen. "She's trapped me down here with that Xengoftrizoid we carted in, this morning. She disabled my gun, so I can't—"

"Wait, the Xengoftrizoid?" said Jack. In the background, someone who sounded like Owen was talking, very animatedly. Then, Jack, into the phone, "Gwen. The Xengoftrizoid. It's harmless."

Gwen stared at the huge alien before her. "What?!"

"It's in the Torchwood cells because it's loud, not dangerous," said Jack. "And this one's about to give birth. We were trying to contain the noise, so we didn't scare off the city of Cardiff, when the birth finally happened."

Gwen shook her head. "No," she insisted. "But… it… it was chasing me, and…"

Jack sighed. "Reach into your pocket," he said. "Take out the chocolate that Seo must have slipped in there. And the Xengoftrizoid will stop chasing you."

Gwen reached into her pocket. And discovered a small, wrapped up little chocolate ball.

The Xengoftrizoid sniffed the air, then howled with an ear-piercing howl. Then raced over to Gwen and began making dog-like begging noises, pleading for the candy.

Gwen… unsteadily… unwrapped the chocolate, and gave it to the alien.

Feeling supremely stupid.

She'd been afraid of Seo, just because she was alien. And she'd been afraid of this thing, just because it was alien. She'd been set up, and used, and had been exposed as the terrified amateur she really was.

"All right," said Gwen. "This is my fault. I was afraid of her, and she used that against me."

"Doesn't matter," Jack dismissed. "Just get up there and stop her, before she does something stupid that she can't take back. Now!"

"Working on it!" shouted Gwen, ramming her shoulder against the freezer door.

"And don't let her lock down the hub!" Jack added. Then, muttering under his breath, "She _always_ does that."

"I said I'm working on it!" Gwen repeated, then hung up. Rammed her shoulder against the freezer door, again, then a third time, then a fourth. Trying to dismiss the fact that she'd been warned, specifically, that Seo would do this to her, and she'd walked into the trap, anyways.

The seventh time, she managed to force the door open, a crack.

The Xengoftrizoid sniffed the air. Smelling the residues of chocolate. And in one leap, jumped forward, dislodging the door, and bounding back towards the center of the hub.

Gwen sprinted after it.

She was expecting the Xengoftrizoid to race into the main Hub area, but it turned out, Seo had already thought of that. A cluster of Ianto's chocolates were lying out for the Xengoftrizoid, in its cell. It was currently back where it was supposed to be, snarfing up the candies as if there were no tomorrow.

Gwen could hear talking, from the main cell area.

A voice.

Seo's voice.

Gwen finally found one of the weapons Jack had hidden, earlier. The only one still left where it was supposed to be. She grabbed it, charging up the steps two at a time, and emerging into the Hub area, gun in hand.

She stopped, in the doorway.

There, standing by a faintly glowing rift manipulator, her head bowed, was Seo.

She was holding a small flower in her hands.

"—and I know it's stupid," Seo was saying. "Everyone else will think I'm thick for doing it. But… just… standing here…" She swallowed, then looked up at the manipulator. "It feels like I'm closer to you, somehow."

Gwen lowered the gun.

"I'm ninety nine, tomorrow," Seo said. Her voice trembled. "One more year until a hundred. Ninety nine, and… I'm free. Out here, in the big world. I'm free, and… and… and I don't know what to do, Dad! I don't…" She took a deep breath. "You were right. It's beautiful out here. And brilliant. And wonderful. But… it's… scary. Humans are scary." She closed her eyes. "Suzie's gone, now, but there's this… Gwen. Gwen Cooper. And I'm terrified of her. I know I shouldn't be, because everyone likes her, and she seems really nice, but…" She swallowed. "I'm not brave, Dad. Not like you thought I was."

Gwen felt the anger and worry fade from her. As she watched the girl in front of her, talking, as if at a graveside, to the rift manipulator.

"Dad," Seo repeated, and the word echoed through the Hub. Echoed with pain and desperation and loneliness. "It's my birthday, Dad. My first birthday where… you're not here. First birthday where you're… gone. Gone forever."

Something in Gwen's heart broke, as she heard these words.

"I miss you, so much, it hurts," Seo whispered, and a tear rolled down her cheeks. She put a hand up against the machine. "I… I just wish…"

Gwen looked on, feeling any vestiges of fear, terror, anger, or worry leave her, in an instant.

As the girl lowered her head, and stifled a sob, standing by the rift manipulator.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she said. Dropping the flower. "I'm so sorry."

The gun fell out of Gwen's hand, and clattered onto the ground.

Seo spun around, and gasped, starting out of her reverie. The rift manipulator stopped glowing, behind her, and the Hub went deathly quiet.

Seo's mouth opened and closed a few times, as she tried, desperately, to find something to say.

"I'm not afraid of you," Seo said, very quickly. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I… everything you saw… everything you heard… I don't really feel that way! It was all just… a joke." She gave an uneasy laugh. "See? Funny."

The laughter died away.

Into the desperate sadness that still creased her face.

She really was turning ninety-nine, tomorrow. She hadn't lied about that. And the reason she'd chased them all away from the Hub was because — she was just what Owen had said. A teenager. Embarrassed to want to leave flowers at what she considered — for some reason — to be her dad's graveside. Embarrassed to let anyone else hear the truth about how she felt.

"I… I'm sorry," said Gwen. "About your dad."

Then, seeing the girl's lower jaw shake, Gwen stepped forward, and wrapped Seo up in a tight hug. Seo's eyes leaking salty tears, as she crumpled into Gwen, unable to contain heartfelt sobbing, unable to contain the way she clung to her — just because Gwen had reached out, and Seo had reached back.

That was all she'd wanted.

Someone to reach out.

"You don't have to be afraid," Gwen told her. "I'm here. I can help. Promise."

Holding her, just like she was a normal human. Just like Gwen would do for anyone in this kind of terror and emotional pain. Anyone that just needed a hug and a hand to hold.

Owen was wrong.

Being a young girl, who didn't understand the world, who made mistakes and got embarrassed and didn't want to admit she was scared — that wasn't what made her terrifying.

That was what made her part-human.

A growl, from their left.

Seo's head snapped up, as she noticed the Xengoftrizoid, stalking towards them. Its eyes fixed, squarely, on the cluster of Torchwood computers, still blinking merrily away.

And the tray of Ianto's chocolates. Lying on top of one of the computers.

Seo's eyes went wide. As she realized… she'd forgotten to close the cell door, when she'd left the Xengoftrizoid eating chocolates.

"Oops," she said.

And, before anyone could stop him, the Xengoftrizoid barreled through the Torchwood computers, sparks flying around him, as he crushed them underfoot.

Seo grabbed at a control on the wall, yanked it down.

Every door in the Hub sealed itself. The power died.

And the Hub plunged into lockdown.

* * *

Seo and Gwen had finally gotten the Xengoftrizoid back into its cell. Which was a lot more difficult, after all the chocolates had been eaten. Because, while the Xengoftrizoid was, indeed, harmless, it was also stubborn, annoying, and very difficult to get to do what you wanted it to.

But they'd managed. Somehow or other.

At the end of it all, Gwen, feeling somewhat exhausted from the day's events, collapsed into a chair, by the torn-up computer banks. Her head still spinning from what had just happened, what she'd just learned about this odd, almost impossible girl she'd met.

The girl who'd wanted to spend her birthday with a Dad who'd died, according to Seo, in some distant dimension.

Seo stepped across the debris, towards Gwen, a smile planted on her face. But Gwen could see past the chipper exterior, now, see a hint of everything that was running through the girl's mind. The pain, the worry, the fear, the excitement and the sorrow and…

That deep, deep sense of compassion for those around her.

"What are you doing?" Seo asked. She grabbed Gwen up by the hand, and tugged her to her feet. "We can't just rest! We've got a computer bank to fix!" She gestured at the torn up computers.

Gwen stared at her, confused. "What?"

"I told you," Seo said, handing Gwen a potato hooked into a weird-looking device, clearly designed to generate power, then bending down and getting to work. "If we destroy something we have to fix it. And if we don't want to get into trouble for breaking it in the first place, then we have to make sure it's working just the way it was, before, by the time the lockdown ends and everyone else can get back into the Hub!" She gestured at Gwen. "Now help me with this!"

* * *

Outside the Hub, in the tourist information center, Jack, Owen, and Tosh burst through the door to discover Ianto and Buffy standing by the back exit. The closed, locked-down back exit. Which should lead them from the Tourist Information Center straight down into Torchwood.

Lockdown. Again.

Jack sighed. "Let me guess," he said. "Seo's broken something, again."

"Typical," Buffy sighed.

"Typical," Ianto agreed.


End file.
